Lee Westwood goes into today’s final round at the British Open at Muirfield with a two shot lead and an opportunity to banish the most glaring omission from his CV. The Englishman, however, insists he won’t succumb to nerves, as memories of his near misses at majors – most notably a three putt on the eighteenth hole that cost him the 2009 Open at Turnberry – will serve as a basis for confidence, rather than a burden.
"I'm not in a high-pressure situation because I'm going to go have dinner, and I'm so good with a knife and fork now that I don't feel any pressure at all," Westwood told the press after yesterday’s round, which he completed in a one under score of 70.
Tiger Woods and Hunter Mahan are Westwood's nearest challengers, on 1 under, with Adam Scott in fourth on level par. Westwood tees off at 2.10, alongside Mahan, with woods and Scott heading out in the penultimate group.
The 40 year old Westwood has contested 61 majors, with the past 16 of those 7 top 10 finishes, while winnign 40 tournaments during his career. Solid performances at the biggest events of recent years have not yet evolved to tournament winning displays, however. He has previously led twice going into the final day of a major, at Turnberry and the 2010 Masters, when Phil Mickelson's superb final day performance left Westwood one back at the end of 72 holes.
"I've had lots of chances, sometimes I've played well, other times I've played not too well, although I can't remember playing that poorly," he said.
"Obviously I had a chance at Turnberry. I messed up a bit. That's just getting out of the zone, worrying about what other people were doing and not focusing on my own game.
"So even though I haven't won a major, I know what it takes to win one. It's just a case of going out there and having the confidence in my game, which I've got."
While some might adopt the approach that treating today’s round like any other would serve best to keep the pressure at bay, Westwood admitted he will allow him self to picutre the moment of glory, with his name atop the leaderboard and the Claret Jug in hand.
"I'll think about winning the Open Championship at some stage, I'm sure. I don't see anything wrong with that, picture yourself holding the Claret Jug and seeing your name at the top of the leaderboard,” he said.
"When it comes to tee-off around three-ish, I should be in the same frame of mind as I was today. I felt nice and calm out there and in control of what I was doing."
